Cork call the shots in show of strength

Munster SHC Semi-final: Cork 1-18 Clare 0-10 The fury duly descended on Thurles yesterday but it was Clare who bore the brunt of it. After the controlled and relentless demolition of Tipperary last month, Cyril Lyons's team confirmed the worst fears of their supporters by having hardly anything left to give

So the great populist challenge to establishment power in the Guinness Munster hurling championship fizzled out as the latest gilded generation from Cork picked off their opponents with aristocratic disdain.

They move on to next month's Munster final against a Waterford side coached by one of their own, Justin McCarthy - no stranger to stirring sedition in the province. He'll have his work cut out on the basis of this display by Cork.

Everywhere around the field they surprised by the authority of their performance. From a defence that was dominant for all but a short period after the interval to an attack that ended up slicing Clare to ribbons, Cork indisputably called the shots.

Time will tell the value of this display against such disappointing opponents but Donal O'Grady's first match in charge delivered as much as the county could have wished for.

Clare made a number of changes before the start.

Ollie Baker filled the vacancy and went to centrefield with Diarmuid McMahon dropping back, as expected, to centre back and Conor Plunkett moving over to the wing.

From the start it was clear that the team wasn't going to achieve the quick knockout that flattened Tipperary. There were early chances but Clare's radar was faulty and they came to nothing.

Slowly Cork got the scoreboard moving with three early frees, by Joe Deane (two) and a 75-metre bomb from John Gardiner.

In the 13th minute came the match's only goal. Ben O'Connor, whose constant running at the defence caused all sorts of problems, carved through the middle and flipped the ball up for Deane to hit a thunderous volley which sent the ball pinging back into play off a stanchion. The umpires consulted with referee Willie Barrett and the goal was given.

Already there was a hopeless air to the match from a Clare perspective. The defence was struggling to cope with the quick movement of the attacks. Only Brian Lohan stood out. For someone who was doubtful with a knee injury sustained in the Tipperary match he settled quickly and cleared a lot of ball.

It was Lohan's misfortune while in the ascendant to see Deane score such a stunning goal and in the second half, the Cork full forward steadily asserted himself.

But the hallmarks of disaster were evident early on.

Cork's players were technically assured, picking the ball cleanly and moving it on with deft strokes. The inexperienced centre of the defence was excellent with Pat Mulcahy busy and composed at full back and Ronan Curran clearing plenty of ball in front of him.

Beside Curran debutant wing back Tom Kenny, after a miserable outing with the now defunct footballers last month, left the crowd in no doubt as to his better game.

The final blow to Clare's prospects was the subdued display of centrefield, the sector that had provided the platform for the defeat of Tipperary. Diarmuid McMahon's move to centre back was necessitated by his cousin's suspension but the reunion of Ollie Baker and Colin Lynch didn't work. Lynch had a surprisingly vigorous challenge on his hands from Mickey O'Connell.

The very fact that the Corkman was at all physically competitive was a good result for his team. Eventually the exchanges overheated and O'Connell's frontal challenge in the 57th minute got him a yellow card before Lynch was red-carded for fouling his marker some eight minutes later. O'Connell's partner John Gardiner controlled the flow of ball in the sector.

It took Clare all of 21 minutes to register any score with Tony Carmody pointing the first of two points that were to represent Clare's first-half total.

Trailing by seven at the break, 0-2 to 1-6, Clare needed an urgent start to the second half and got it.

Substitute Barry Murphy injected a bit of pace into the attack and for a while Mulcahy struggled. Within six minutes Clare had the deficit down to one goal, 0-7 to 1-7, but that was as good as it got.

Niall Gilligan flared into prominence for this spell, picking up three points in as many minutes although the first in the 38th minute offered the possibility of a goal.

With the match back within the realms of competitiveness Cork simply upped their game. Deane began to motor, coming out the field to secure ball and taking a neat point from around 45 metres as well as reliably popping over the frees.

By the start of the final quarter Cork led by six, 1-12 to 0-9, but their forwards were beginning to push Clare beyond breaking point. Setanta Ó hAilpín on his debut increased the pressure on Frank Lohan, taking a couple of good points.

Lohan was lucky to survive an incident after which he and Ó hAilpín were given yellow cards given that he pulled across his man.

The Cork debutant inadvertently set up a penalty when his 66th-minute shot came off the post and Alan Browne was pulled back by Brian Quinn in pursuit of the rebound.

Diarmuid O'Sullivan - who was freed of the pressure of playing full back by Mulcahy and had a solid game - took the penalty and somehow his ballistic strike ended up deflected over the bar. Lynch got his marching orders during this break in play and O'Connell went off to have a blood injury tended.

In the time that remained Cork were able to outscore Clare by four points to one.

Lyons was left with six days to sort out the after-effects of a demoralising rout and the likely unavailability of two of his best players, Lynch and McMahon, whose suspension won't expire until a few hours after any match this coming Saturday. And of course Galway.

CORK: 1. D Cusack; 2. W Sherlock, 3. P Mulcahy, 4. D O'Sullivan (0-1, penalty); 5. T Kenny, 6. R Curran, 7. Sean Ó hAilpín; 8. J Gardiner (0-1, free), 9. M O'Connell (0-1); 10. B O'Connor (0-1), 11. N McCarthy (0-2), 12. T McCarthy (0-1); 13. Setanta Ó hAilpín (0-3); 14. J Deane (1-8, six frees), 15. A Browne (capt.). Subs: None.

CLARE: 1. D Fitzgerald; 2. B Quinn, 3. B Lohan, 4. F Lohan (capt.); 6. C Plunkett (0-1, one 65), 8. D McMahon, 7. G Quinn; 20. O Baker, 9. C Lynch; 10. A Markham (0-1), 12. T Griffin, 13. T Carmody (0-3); 11. N Gilligan (0-4, one free), 14. A Quinn, 15. J O'Connor. Subs: 22. B Murphy (0-1) for A Quinn (half-time), 23. D O'Connell for Baker (64 mins), 25. G Considine for Markham (65 mins), 21. J Reddan for Carmody (69 mins).

Referee: W Barrett (Tipperary).

CORK CLARE